For immediate release: Festival Welcomes Directors with Ties to Texas Ben Masters, Raj Patel, John Claiborne Brown, Brandon Holmes, Alejandra Vasquez, and Kathryn Francis Festival Showcases Powerful Texas Stories of Nature and Conservation, Climate Change, Oil Drilling vs. Property Rights, Boom and Bust Oil, Fast Fashion and more Dallas, TX (April 21, 2022)… Continue reading TEXAS FILMMAKERS AND STORIES TAKE CENTER STAGE AT EARTHX FILM FESTIVAL 2022, MAY 12-15
Author: Laurie Coker
THE WHITE FORTRESS – Tabija
Bosnian filmmaker Igor Drljača opens his new gritty yet poetic crime drama, Tabija/The White Fortress, in the rundown, graffiti-covered Sarajevo suburb of Alipasino Polje. The war-torn ghetto is the perfect landscape for this unsettling film.
STANLEYVILLE
Stanleyville is bizarre. There, I said it. I sat through the 90-minute runtime, wanting to turn it off half the time and wanting to see how it ends for the other. My guest tuned out and I stayed put. Writer/director Maxwell McCabe-Lokos makes an apparent effort to create an intriguing dark comedy, but it never… Continue reading STANLEYVILLE
THE DUKE
In film, intrigue and art theft are typically reserved for suspense thrillers with handsome leads dressed to the nine’s plotting the perfect heist. A stodgy, slightly bumbling low-class thief isn’t the typical type unless the story is true. Based on a radio play story, director Roger Michell’s version is nearly perfect – cast, sets, costumes,… Continue reading THE DUKE
DUAL
Hunger Games meets cloning in Dual, a new film starring the talented Karen Gillan. Writer/director Riley Stearns creates a darkly satirical story regarding some intense themes, beneath which there lies a rumble of serious existential questions. Stearns creates a futuristic and otherworld feel to his setting, characters, and plot, allowing for a disconnect from the… Continue reading DUAL
SXSW: SISSY
I am not a huge fan of horror films. Some bore me and others just gross me out, but occasionally, I stumble across one that excites me. During the SXSW Film Festival this year, ‘Sissy’ a film directed and co-written by Kane Senes and Hannah Barlow engaged and surprised me. Clever writing and even more… Continue reading SXSW: SISSY
The Yellow Wallpaper
I haven’t taught in years, but when I did, “The Yellow Wallpaper,” a short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, was a staple in the sophomore literature text. The film by the same name, adapted and directed by Kevin Pontuti, stays true (for all but the ending) to the source. Pontuti manages to capture the psychological… Continue reading The Yellow Wallpaper
SXSW 2022: PRETTY PROBLEMS
We all get into ruts – with our relationships, our careers, and our daily lives. We also often want a different life than the one dealt to us – especially if it means financial freedom and a carefree existence. With Pretty Problems, director Kestrin Pantera and screenwriter Michael Tennant explore age-old themes of self-worth, pride,… Continue reading SXSW 2022: PRETTY PROBLEMS
SXSW – TONY HAWK: UNTIL THE WHEELS FALL OFF
My son’s first skateboard was a Tony Hawk board – I remember it well, and I remember how in awe my son was of the champion trickster. Hawk is not a stranger to documentaries, but Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off sheds more light on the skating phenom than others have and shares insights… Continue reading SXSW – TONY HAWK: UNTIL THE WHEELS FALL OFF
SXSW 2022: LINOLEUM
It can be tough to review a film with detail and flourish and not reveal the surprises that make it entertaining. Linoleum, a film from director Colin West, starring Jim Gaffigan, had its Indy film premiere at SXSW digitally and in-person and provided a delightful and subtly cool diversion. This is the writer/director West’s second… Continue reading SXSW 2022: LINOLEUM